🇺🇸 **Axios: Trump discussing death penalty for big drug dealers**
<https://archive.fo/tyOxj>

President Donald Trump is advocating for the death penalty for major drug dealers and much harsher punishments for all drug dealing, Axios reports.

The President has been inspired by the policies of Singapore, citing their low rates of drug use and their executions of drug dealers, according to the report.

"He says that a lot," a source who has spoken at length about the subject with the President told Axios. "He says, 'When I ask the prime minister of Singapore do they have a drug problem [the prime minister replies,] 'No. Death penalty.'"

Trump believes a gentler approach to drug trafficking and use is ineffective, according to the report.

Trump could also back legislation that would require people convicted of dealing as little as two grams of the synthetic opioid fentanyl to receive a five-year mandatory jail sentence, according to the Axios report. The law currently requires that sentence for those who deal 40 or more grams of the drug.
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🇺🇸 **Florida shooting survivor: We will outlive the NRA**
<https://archive.fo/utoLS>

Florida high school shooting survivor David Hogg said in an interview on Monday that those campaigning for stricter gun control laws will outlive the National Rifle Association (NRA).

"We're going to have to outlive the NRA and we will because they certainly aren't going to stop but neither are we," Hogg said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

"Last night I was in Livingston, New Jersey, at a campaign rally because essentially this is what this has become, sadly. It shouldn't have to be. I was there giving a speech, explaining my situation, our agenda, and everything like that," he said.

"I was meeting amazing individuals and shaking hands with them. It was every single person I met with there. I knew that's how change was coming because those people showed up and because those people showed up, they stood up and made their voice heard," he continued.
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🇺🇸 **Florida Republican: People are 'not safer' with access to AR-15 style guns**
<https://archive.fo/RPop1>

A House Republican and Army veteran who favors a ban on AR-15 style guns said Monday that easy access to these weapons is not making the U.S. safer, and said a ban on future sales is needed.

"My community, my country is not safer with this unfettered access of anybody that's 18 years or older having access to this platform," Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., said on MSNBC.

Mast, who lost both his legs working as part of a bomb disposal expert in Afghanistan, said he had access to a similar weapon in the Army because of the damage it could do to the enemy. But he said similar weapons shouldn't be widely available in the U.S.

"The Army put this weapon in my hands because it was the best weapon to go out there and kill on the battlefield in the most dangerous country on Earth," he said. "That's why they put it in my hands."
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🇺🇸 **In blow to Trump, Supreme Court won’t hear appeal of DACA ruling**
<https://archive.fo/oLlUe>

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear the Trump administration's appeal of a federal judge's ruling that requires the government to keep the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program going.

Under a lower court order that remains in effect, the Department of Homeland Security must continue to accept applications to renew DACA status from the roughly 700,000 young people, known as Dreamers, who are currently enrolled. The administration's deadline of March 5, when it intended to shut the program down, is now largely meaningless.

Monday's denial also gives Congress more time to come up with a legislative solution, though repeated bipartisan efforts have failed so far.

The court's denial was expected, because the justices rarely accept appeals asking them to bypass the lower courts.
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🇺🇸 **Georgia's lieutenant governor threatens to retaliate against Delta unless it reverses its decision on the NRA**
<https://archive.fo/ZEcX7>

Georgia Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle said he will not support a bill that would give Delta a massive tax break, unless the airline reverses its decision to sever a partnership with the National Rifle Association.

Delta ended the NRA partnership on Saturday due to pressure from gun control advocates following the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida.

The proposed bill would exempt jet fuel purchases from Georgia sales tax and could save Delta around $40 million.

"I will kill any tax legislation that benefits @Delta unless the company changes its position and fully reinstates its relationship with @NRA," Cagle said Monday. "Corporations cannot attack conservatives and expect us not to fight back."

The airline employed more than 33,000 people in the state of Georgia in 2015 and ranks as one of the largest employers in the state.
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🇺🇸 **First transgender recruit joins U.S. military, Pentagon confirms**
<https://archive.fo/zLkSK>

The first transgender recruit has officially signed up for the U.S. military, despite President Donald Trump’s call for the ban of all such individuals from serving in the armed forces.

The Pentagon confirmed Monday the recruit signed their service contract on Friday, after meeting a slew of physical, psychological and medical requirements before being considered for military service, Pentagon spokesman Maj. David Eastburn told The Washington Times. The Defense Department declined to comment on which branch the individual joined or whether the recruit, who wished to remain anonymous, signed up as a serviceman or servicewoman.

News of the enlistment comes as the Trump administration is weighing the recommendations of Defense Secretary James Mattis on whether transgender troops should be allowed into the military. Department spokesman Col. Rob Manning told reporters on Monday that Mr. Mattis’s guidance had been sent to the White House and is currently under review.
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🇺🇸 **If You Have A Mental Illness, This Antifa Student Group Wants You**
<https://archive.fo/t43uc>

A Texas Antifa student group hosted a six month health program to “politicize” students with “mental illnesses,” according to a Thursday report.

The Revolutionary Student Front at the University of Texas at Austin hosted a “Revolutionary Mental Health Program” “to address the mental health needs of students in a way that would primarily serve to politicize and strengthen them, to become more committed to revolution and more capable of carrying it out,” reported Far Left Watch.

The UT Austin Antifa student group based its 2017 program on “Turn Illness Into A Weapon,” a book charting the neo-Marxist Socialist Patients Collective group’s actions in Germany, which placed the blame of mental illness on capitalist oppression.

The Revolutionary Student Front sought to create a health care system that not only treated students for their mental illnesses, but also mobilized them to fight capitalism.
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✝ **Pennsylvania church’s AR-15 ceremony prompts nearby elementary school to cancel classes**
<https://archive.fo/fIZsE>

A Pennsylvania school district will cancel classes at an elementary school on Wednesday because a church down the street is hosting a ceremony featuring AR-15 rifles.

World Peace<:sammy:351905309863706625> and Unification Sanctuary in Newfoundland believes the AR-15 symbolizes the “rod of iron” in the biblical book of Revelation, and it is encouraging couples to bring the weapons to a commitment ceremony.

The ceremony, to be held about a half-mile from Wallenpaupack South Elementary School, is expected to draw hundreds of couples.

On Friday, the superintendent of the Wallenpaupack Area School District wrote in a letter to parents that while “there is no direct threat to our school or community,” given concerns about parking, traffic and the “nature of the event,” students will be bused to schools about 15 miles away.
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🇸🇦 **Saudi Arabia allows women to join military**
<https://archive.fo/oNaQY>

Saudi Arabia has for the first time opened applications for women to join its military.

Women have until Thursday to apply for positions with the rank of soldier in the provinces of Riyadh, Mecca, al-Qassim and Medina.

The roles do not appear to involve combat, but will instead give women the opportunity to work in security.

A list of 12 requirements says hopefuls must be Saudi citizens, aged between 25 and 35, and have a high-school diploma.

The women and their male guardians - usually a husband, father, brother or son - must also have a place of residence in the same province as the job's location.
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🇺🇸 **House Democrats introduce bill prohibiting sale of semi-automatic weapons**
<https://archive.fo/YKo2J>

House Democrats have introduced a bill banning semi-automatic firearms in the wake of the Feb. 14 shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla.

Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., announced Monday he is introducing the Assault Weapons Ban of 2018. More than 150 Democrats have signed on in support of the legislation, Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., said.

"Today I joined @RepCicilline and 150+ of my colleagues to introduce the assault weapons ban. It’s time for Congress to listen to the will of a majority of Americans and pass sensible legislation to get these weapons of war off our streets. #NeverAgain #MSDStrong," Deutch tweeted.

The bill prohibits the “sale, transfer, production, and importation” of semi-automatic rifles and pistols that can hold a detachable magazine, as well as semi-automatic rifles with a magazine that can hold more than 10 rounds. Additionally, the legislation bans the sale, transfer, production, and importation of semi-automatic shotguns with features such as a pistol grip or detachable stock, and ammunition feeding devices that can hold more than 10 rounds.

“Assault weapons were made for one purpose,” Cicilline said in a statement. “They are designed to kill as many people as possible in a short amount of time. They do not belong in our communities.”
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🇺🇸 **Police shoot hero who disarmed gunman in Amarillo church**
<http://archive.is/WYUcU>

Texas police shot a man after he disarmed a potential church shooter who had been holding more than 100 people hostage in at a congregation in Amarillo.

The incident took place during a morning service at the Faith City Mission, a Christian organisation which helps people in need in the community. Jones, who had received help from the Faith City Mission in the past, held about 100 congregants and church staff hostage.

He described how officers ordered him to throw the gun to the floor, but that he hesitated as he was worried that the loaded gun would go off if he did so. 'I didn't want anyone else getting hurt. Then pop, pop they shot me. I went down, then a puddle of blood. I thought I was a goner.'

Mr Garces, who credits the Faith City Mission with helping him turn his life around after a four-year-stint in prison, was hit in the neck, but was rushed to hospital and survived. He is now calling for police to receive more and improved training in use of deadly violence, telling ABC7 that the officer who shot him 'didn't know what he was doing'.
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🇺🇸 **Federal judge whom Trump called ‘Mexican’ clears way for border wall**
<https://archive.fo/PnYO1>

The federal judge once slammed by President Donald Trump as being a “Mexican” who was incapable of being impartial has sided with Trump in his bid to move ahead with construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel on Tuesday rejected arguments by the state of California and a coalition of environmental groups, who said the Trump administration had improperly ignored environmental laws in its push to build the wall.

Curiel said in his 101-page ruling that such decisions should be left to other branches of government, not the judiciary. He quoted U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in saying political matters "are entrusted to our Nation’s elected leaders, who can be thrown out of office if the people disagree with them. It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices.”

Curiel, who was nominated to the federal bench by President Barack Obama, made it clear his ruling centered on whether the administration had the authority to build a border wall, not on the wisdom of that decision. He described the "heated political debate" surrounding the project and added: "In its review of this case the Court cannot and does not consider whether underlying decisions to construct the border barriers are politically wise or prudent."
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🇸🇨 **‘Time for reconciliation over’: South Africa votes to confiscate white-owned land **
<http://archive.is/TaERN>

The South African parliament voted on Tuesday in favor of a motion seeking to change the constitution to allow white-owned land expropriation without compensation. The motion, which was brought by Julius Malema – the leader of the radical Marxist opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters – passed by a wide margin of 241 votes to 83 against.

Several parties – the Democratic Alliance, Freedom Front Plus, Cope and the African Christian Democratic Party – did not support the motion. The matter has been referred to the parliament’s Constitutional Review Committee, which must report back by August 30.

“The time for reconciliation is over. Now is the time for justice,” Malema told the parliament. “We must ensure that we restore the dignity of our people without compensating the criminals who stole our land.”
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🇺🇸 **Hope Hicks Will Resign as White House Communications Director**
<https://archive.fo/8mkwE>

Hope Hicks, one of President Donald Trump’s longest serving advisers and closest aides, will resign, the White House said a day after she testified to congressional investigators probing Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election.

Hicks was named White House communications director in September, but was on Trump’s staff from the beginning of his presidency. Prior to joining the Trump campaign, she had worked in public relations for the Trump Organization.

“I wish the president and his administration the very best as he continues to lead our country,” Hicks said in a statement released by the White House.

She won’t leave the White House immediately, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. The New York Times reported earlier that she was resigning.

She is the latest of several recent high-profile departures from Trump’s White House. Another communications aide, Josh Raffel, said Tuesday he would resign. A top technology aide, Reed Cordish, said earlier this month he would leave. Staff Secretary Rob Porter resigned earlier this month after reports that he had been accused of domestic violence by two ex-wives.
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🇺🇸 **Trump: 'Take the guns first, go through due process second'**
<https://archive.fo/wTOwY>

President Trump on Wednesday voiced support for confiscating guns from certain individuals deemed to be dangerous, even if it violates due process rights.

“I like taking the guns early, like in this crazy man’s case that just took place in Florida ... to go to court would have taken a long time,” Trump said at a meeting with lawmakers on school safety and gun violence.

“Take the guns first, go through due process second,” Trump said.

Trump was responding to comments from Vice President Pence that families and local law enforcement should have more tools to report potentially dangerous individuals with weapons.

“Allow due process so no one’s rights are trampled, but the ability to go to court, obtain an order and then collect not only the firearms but any weapons,” Pence said.

"Or, Mike, take the firearms first, and then go to court," Trump responded.
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🇺🇸 **Trump: Bill combining concealed carry and gun background checks bill will 'never pass'**
<https://archive.fo/H7xYA>

President Donald Trump on Wednesday cast doubt on the prospects for expanding concealed carry gun laws, telling a bipartisan meeting of lawmakers at the White House that there was no hope of passage if linked to a broader bill on background checks.

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the House majority whip, pushed for adding to the FIX National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) Act a provision that would make concealed carry permits valid across state lines, but the president said that “it’ll never pass.”

“If you look at the conceal carry population, these are people by and large who are helping us stop crime, so I hope that that’s not immediately dismissed because there is a lot of talk to just putting that on the side,” he said on Wednesday. Scalise was critically wounded in a shooting during a practice for the congressional baseball game last summer.

Though Trump didn’t completely rule out Scalise’s proposal, he suggested it be passed as a separate bill.

“I think that maybe that bill will someday pass but it should pass as separate,” the president said. “If you’re gonna put conceal carry between states in this bill, we’re talking about a whole new ball game and I’m with you, but let it be a separate bill. If you add conceal carry to this, you’ll never get it passed.”
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<a:thinkasd:412976929629536286> **Hate body odour? You're more likely to have rightwing views**
<https://archive.fo/GtqPb>

People who have a greater tendency to turn their nose up at the whiff of urine, sweat and other body odours are more likely to have rightwing authoritarian attitudes, research suggests.

The study also found having a greater disgust for body odours was linked, albeit to a small degree, with support for Donald Trump when he was a presidential candidate.

The team say the findings support the idea that a feeling of disgust might partly underpin social discrimination against others, with the link rooted in a primitive urge to avoid catching diseases from unfamiliar people or environments.

But, he stressed, feelings of disgust are not immutable. “Even though disgust is a very primitive emotion that is definitely rooted in our biological survival, it can still be altered,” he said.

Previous studies have linked levels of disgust to political orientation, with some research suggesting those who identify as conservative have greater aversion to revolting images.
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🇺🇸 **Walmart raises minimum age for firearm purchases to 21**
<https://archive.fo/k67fh>

Walmart will only sell guns and ammunition to people over the age of 21 from now on.
The company said in a statement Wednesday that it decided to review its firearm sales policy "in light of recent events."

"Going forward, we are raising the age restriction for purchase of firearms and ammunition to 21 years of age. We will update our processes as quickly as possible to implement this change," a statement said.

"We are also removing items from our website resembling assault-style rifles, including nonlethal airsoft guns and toys," Walmart (WMT) said. "Our heritage as a company has always been in serving sportsmen and hunters, and we will continue to do so in a responsible way."
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<:trump:284711336934375425> **Trump refers to Sessions as 'Mr. Magoo': report**
<https://archive.fo/WzDeX>

President Trump refers to Attorney General Jeff Sessions as “Mr. Magoo,” The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Trump has been comparing his top law enforcement official to the bumbling cartoon character, an elderly man who lands in comic situations largely due to his severe near-sightedness.

The president has also been complaining to associates that he generally has hired the best lawyers for himself, but that as president he’s forced to utilize Sessions, who isn’t defending Trump to the best of his ability, according to The Post.

Special counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly investigating whether Trump tried to oust Sessions from his administration last summer.

Trump has repeatedly attacked the attorney general, largely over Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the investigation into Russian election interference.
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🇺🇸 **Planned Parenthood to invest $20 million in elections**
<https://archive.fo/CZktF>

Planned Parenthood is launching a $20 million fund that will go toward candidates who support abortion and other reproductive rights.

The program, called "March. Vote. Win," will focus on gubernatorial, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, attorneys general, and state legislature elections. The focus will be on Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The $20 million, which is an initial investment, will fund grassroots programs as well as ad and mail programs to inform the public about where different candidates stand on issues such as abortion and birth control.

States have a range of restrictions on abortions, from banning abortion after 20 weeks into a pregnancy to limiting which healthcare professionals can administer an abortion pill.
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🇺🇸 **McConnell: Senate to skip gun debate for bank bill**
<http://archive.is/SDYtB>
 
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Thursday the Senate will turn to a banking bill next week, dashing hopes of many senators in both parties that the Senate would be able to pass gun legislation quickly in the wake of the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida.

The decision reflects the reality that negotiators have not settled on legislation that can pass the GOP-led House and Senate and be signed by President Donald Trump.

Trump scrambled the debate at an unusual White House meeting with bipartisan lawmakers Wednesday when he embraced Democratic proposals and rejected Republican ideas.

10-10
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<:happytrump:396612999038763009> **The number of Delta Air Lines passengers who bought tickets with NRA discount: 13**
<https://archive.fo/bv4lQ>

40 million tax break for Delta Air Lines? Only 13.

The Georgia legislature removed a jet-fuel tax break from a larger tax package Thursday. Lawmakers were upset that Delta, which is headquartered in Atlanta, dropped the National Rifle Association from a discount-fare program in an effort to appear neutral on gun policy.

After the firestorm, Delta will review all its marketing programs to avoid those that might become political, CEO Ed Bastian announced Friday.

But the airline said only 13 passengers ever bought tickets with an NRA discount. That translates into each discount costing the airline about $3 million in tax breaks.

Delta had agreed Saturday to drop its marketing program with the National Rifle Association. The airline said it was an effort to remain neutral in the debate over gun policies, after the shooting deaths of 17 people on Feb. 14 at a Florida high school.

The airline doesn't disclose how many discount programs it has, airline spokesman Trebor Banstetter said. Delta had sold just 13 tickets under the discount program with the NRA, he said.
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🇺🇸 **Fla. senate revokes 2-year ban on AR-15s minutes after it passes**
<https://archive.fo/XgGU0>

The Florida state senate briefly approved a two-year freeze on the sale of AR-15 assault rifles on Saturday — before overturning the measure 15 minutes after the initial vote.

The semi-automatic rifle was the type used in the Parkland, Fla., high school massacre on Feb. 14.

The fleeting prohibition came on an unrecorded voice vote, in which lawmakers shouted yea or nay, according to the Tampa Bay Times. It was swiftly reconsidered and overturned by a more formal roll call vote of 21-17.
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<:trump:284711336934375425> **Trump on China's Xi consolidating power: 'Maybe we'll give that a shot some day'**
<https://archive.fo/tBU52>

President Donald Trump bemoaned a decision not to investigate Hillary Clinton after the 2016 presidential election, decrying a "rigged system" that still doesn't have the "right people" in place to fix it, during a freewheeling speech to Republican donors in Florida on Saturday.

In the closed-door remarks, a recording of which was obtained by CNN, Trump also praised China's President Xi Jinping for recently consolidating power and extending his potential tenure, musing he wouldn't mind making such a maneuver himself.

"He's now president for life. President for life. No, he's great," Trump said. "And look, he was able to do that. I think it's great. Maybe we'll have to give that a shot some day."

The remarks, delivered inside the ballroom at his Mar-a-Lago estate during a lunch and fundraiser, were upbeat, lengthy, and peppered with jokes and laughter. But Trump's words reflected his deeply felt resentment that his actions during the 2016 campaign remain under scrutiny while those of his former rival, Hillary Clinton, do not.

"I'm telling you, it's a rigged system folks," Trump said. "I've been saying that for a long time. It's a rigged system. And we don't have the right people in there yet. We have a lot of great people, but certain things, we don't have the right people."
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🇮🇷 **Iranian Supreme Leader Demands Americans Disarm**
<https://archive.fo/S1Zhg>

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is calling on America to "make guns illegal" in light of deadly shootings that have taken place across the United States, according to comments made by the Iranian leader over the week.

Khamenei, who has instructed his government to spend billions of dollars on military hardware and ballistic missiles, lashed out at the United States over the weekend, calling on America to ban all guns in light of a series of domestic shootings.

"No one dares apply the clear solution to the promotion of guns and homicide in America. What's the solution? It's to make guns illegal," Khamenei wrote on Twitter. In a sweeping thread that touched on gun violence and the homicide rate in America, Khamenei criticized the U.S. "gun lobby" and called on America to ban weapons.

"In U.S., 100s are killed every week by homicide for no crime,—no reason—not at the hands of police, as US police brutality is a separate issue," the Iranian leader wrote. "The accessibility of guns leads to homicide; it's created problems for a country like U.S., everyone admits, fears, & is concerned about it."
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🍝 **Italy: Eurosceptic Populists Win, Mainstream Parties Lose**
<https://archive.fo/SNaqM>

Italy has been hit by a historic political earthquake. Sunday's election results speak for themselves: the two populist parties (the Five Star Movement and Lega Nord) have won, while the establishment-mainstream parties have been all but wiped out.

The mostly leftist Five Star Movement (started by Beppe Grillo) took home more than 30 percent of the vote. Although progressive in most of its views, FSM is also eurosceptic, making its resounding victory a major problem for Brussels. The Five Star Movement's brother-of-another-mother, the right-wing Lega Nord (Northern League), also performed extremely well with around 17 percent of the vote, making it Italy's third party. Current governing party PD (Democrats) was barely able to fight off Lega by finishing second with a mere 19-20 percent of the vote. And Berlusconi's Forza Italia? They had to settle for fewer votes than Lega Nord, probably ending up with 13-15 percent.

What's more, Trump's former Chief Strategist Steve Bannon was in Rome for the election. He called on Five Star and Lega Nord to join forces with each other and with the "Brothers of Italy" party. The latter traces its lineage back to Italy's fascist era. "I think if they create a coalition among all the populists it would be fantastic," Bannon told newspaper Corriere della Sera. "It would pierce Brussels in the heart."

Bannon is right on that one. If these parties join forces, EU bureaucrats will indeed immediately switch into full panic mode. It would put their entire project in jeopardy, because all parties involved are anti-EU, and have plans that are the complete opposite of the EU's vision for Italy's future.
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🇺🇸 **Dems to let same-sex couples buy children**
<http://archive.is/hMqLw>

Now lawmakers in the state of Washington are attempting to fix that by creating surrogacy rules that would allow wealthy same-sex duos to buy babies. Their report on bill ESSB 6037, called the Uniform Parentage Act, asserts changes are needed “due to the lack of equal treatment for same sex couples.”

“Marital rights do not transfer into parental rights nationwide,” the bill’s summary of public testimony explains. “Currently, when a lesbian couple has a child through assisted reproduction, the nongenetic mother must go through an expensive and time-consuming second-parent adoption to establish parentage that will be recognized in other states.”

While the bill report states, “A person may not enter into a surrogate parentage contract for compensation, and any such contract is void as against public policy,” a few paragraphs lower it specifically allows that, “A surrogacy agreement may provide for payment of consideration.”

Ken Vance, editor of Clark County Today, spoke with some of the GOP lawmakers who tried to defeat the plan approved by the Democratic-controlled legislature. The bill still awaits the signature of Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee.

Vance said state Reps. Liz Pike and Vicki Kraft recently “have had some tough days” concerning the Uniform Parentage Act. Kraft told him: “It is literally the most disturbing bill I’ve seen come before the House Chamber since I’ve been in office. The bill essentially allows for the commercialization of a surrogate woman. In layman’s term, I call it ‘rent a womb.'”

Justice Ruth ((((((Ginsburg)))))), one of five lawyers who created same-sex ‘marriage’ in the U.S.
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🇨🇳 **CIA Warns of Extensive Chinese Operation to Infiltrate American Institutions**
<https://archive.fo/OES3m>

The CIA has issued a classified report detailing China's far-reaching foreign influence operations campaign in the United States, which imparts financial incentives as leverage to permeate American institutions.

In an unclassified page of the report obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, the CIA cautions against efforts by the Chinese Communist Party to stipulate funding to universities and policy institutes in exchange for academic censorship.

"The CCP provides ‘strings-attached' funding to academic institutions and think tanks to deter research that casts it in a negative light," the report says. "It has used this tactic to reward pro-China viewpoints and coerce Western academic publications and conferences to self-censor. The CCP often denies visas to academics who criticize the regime, encouraging many China scholars to preemptively self-censor so they can maintain access to the country on which their research depends."

FBI Director Christopher Wray told the Senate Intelligence Committee last month the bureau is investigating dozens of Confucius Institutes, the Chinese-backed language and cultural centers hosted by more than 100 universities across the country. Despite their broad entrenchment in American academics over the past decade, little is known about the nature of the contracts between Beijing and the host universities—funding amounts and contractual terms are largely kept secret.
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<:pepegun:328556579467165696> **The creator of Pepe the Frog is suing InfoWars**
<https://archive.fo/90vxy>

Matt Furie, the character's creator is suing InfoWars, the media company helmed by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

In the lawsuit, filed Monday, Furie alleges copyright infringement stemming from a stylized poster sold on the Infowars website. The $29.95 poster features a depiction of Pepe alongside other MAGA "heroes" drawn by artist Jon Allen, including Donald Trump, Roger Stone, Milo Yiannopoulos, Ann Coulter and Jones himself.

According to the civil complaint, "Furie did not authorize the use of the Pepe image or character in this poster, and does not approve of the association of Pepe with Alex Jones or any of the other figures shown in this poster, or the 'MAGA' slogan."

In an audio statement published on the InfoWars YouTube channel, Jones calls the lawsuit "frivolous" and part of a larger attempt by media outlets to make Infowars "public enemy number one."
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**24 arrested at spencer rally**


<http://archive.is/mVCKn>

Roughly 500 protesters gathered Monday on the outskirts of the East Lansing campus, where Richard spencer was ticketed to appear.

As people in the crowd chanted “Nazis go home,” 24 people were arrested. MSU Police Capt. Doug Monette says charges range from misdemeanors to felonies, but it’s what some of the protesters did that’s especially disturbing.

"Some of the protesters threw feces, filling up urine balloons, as well as rocks at police and other people that were at the event" the police captain Doug Monnete told the news outlet.

Around 50 people made it inside the pavilion to hear Spencer’s speech. Spencer told the crowd that he considered the event a success because he got to share his ideas, but did regret that there was violence.
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🚁 **Communist students vandalize WWI memorial at UT-Austin**
<https://archive.fo/88yiJ>

The "Revolutionary Student Front," an unofficial group of communist students at the University of Texas at Austin, decided to mark International Women's Day by vandalizing a fountain on campus.

On its Facebook page, which has amassed more than 4,700 likes, the RSF further explains its vandalism, accusing UT President Greg Fenves of “endangering and perpetuating violence against women and all survivors of patriarchy abuse, assault, and harassment,” and claiming that he uses a “significant amount of pig presence and other security measures to keep him safe from students who want to be safe on their campus and force out abusers.”

“[W]e know that to truly address patriarchal violence, we must organize the people to attack and destroy capitalism, its institutions, and those who perpetuate this violence,” the post adds, concluding by encouraging women to “reclaim violence” to fight against “patriarchal capitalism”

The RSF describes itself as “a revolutionary anti-capitalist student movement,” defining its beliefs with five “Points of Unity,” including “anti-capitalism,” “revolution,” “anti-oppression,” “anti-imperialism and internationalism,” and “the mass line” (a tactic of using “revolutionary theory” to “sharpen” ideas that come “from the people”).

While the group is not officially recognized by the university, it does claim to hold a weekly “Community Self-Defense Class” on campus, featuring “elements of physical fitness, individual self-defense, anti-fascist defense, and women’s self-defense.”
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⚠ **Trump agrees to meet with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, South Korea says**
<https://archive.fo/Ub6vR>

President Trump will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by May for high-level talks toward a nuclear-free Korean peninsula, a South Korean official said outside the White House Thursday.

The extraordinary and unexpected opening came through shuttle diplomacy by a South Korean delegation arriving in Washington Thursday. Trump heralded the development as a "major announcement" after speaking with the South Korean president.

"I told President Trump that in our meeting, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he's committed to denuclearization. He pledged that North Korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests," South Korean national security adviser Chung Eui-yong told reporters after meeting with Trump at the White House.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/464216787182428160
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/464217937516040193
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🇺🇸 **REPORT: Susan Rice Told NSC Officials To ‘Stand Down’ In Response To Russian Meddling Attempts**
<http://archive.fo/PX0Km>

Former national security advisor Susan Rice issued a stand down order to national security council officials developing aggressive options to respond to Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, a new excerpt from Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin’s War on America and the Election of Donald Trump reveals.

NSC officials were reportedly alarmed by Russia’s attempts to meddle in the 2016 presidential election, including the hacking of Democratic National Committee officials’ emails, and those belonging to Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.

Michael Daniel, an NSC official responsible for the Russia portfolio, told to the book’s authors of multiple plans to strike fear in Russian President Vladimir Putin with the aim of ending Russia’s election meddling. These plans included surreptitiously releasing personal information about Putin’s family, which revealed corruption in Putin’s political party, and even crafting a large cybersecurity exercise as a public threat to Russia.

Daniel additionally told the authors that when Rice caught wind of his planning, she called him and berated him.

Obama officials have since lamented “we sort of choked” in response to the Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The former president instead took it upon himself to warn Putin in person during a face-to-face meeting in September 2016 to “knock it off” in terms of election meddling with a an explicit warning of consequences if it continued.
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<:strawman:372034857099984897> **'Black' robots may be target for racism - study**
<http://archive.fo/75mDg>

People have similar automatic biases towards darker-coloured robots as they do toward people with darker skin colour, according to new research from the University of Canterbury (UC). The new research paper, *Robots and racism*, is being presented on Thursday in Chicago at an international conference on human-robot interaction.

"This result should be troubling for people working in social robotics given the profound lack of diversity in the robots available," UC human-robot interaction expert associate professor Christoph Bartneck said.

"This lack of racial diversity amongst social robots may be anticipated to produce all of the problematic outcomes associated with a lack of racial diversity in other fields."

(((We))) hope the research might inspire reflection on the social and historical forces that have brought what is now quite a racially diverse community of engineers to - seemingly without recognising it - design robots that are easily identified by those outside this community as being almost entirely 'white', he said.
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🇺🇸 **Department of Justice moves to ban bump stocks, classifying them as 'machine guns' under federal law**
<https://archive.fo/gVvuh>

The U.S. Department of Justice formally submitted a regulation on Saturday to ban "bump stocks," a modification to high-capacity rifles that lets them fire like an automatic weapon.

President Donald Trump signed a memorandum in February directing the department to make the regulatory change, which must now be approved by the Office of Management and Budget before it is published and subject to a commentary period.

The move does not require congressional approval, allowing the administration to side-step what could have been insurmountable pressure from pro-gun groups such as the National Rifle Association that have worked to erode changes in firearm laws in the wake of mass shootings in Florida and Nevada.

The NRA supported more regulations on bump stocks but has not endorsed Trump's ban and said previously it was awaiting the publication of the regulation before rendering judgment.

The NRA could not immediately be reached for comment.
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🇺🇸 **November 11th 2018 Veteran's Day Parade Details**
https://twitter.com/Tmgneff/status/972255339054817282

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<:trump:284711336934375425> **Elizabeth Warren Refuses to Take a DNA Test to Prove Her Native American Heritage**
<https://archive.fo/LkKYc>

The Massachusetts Senator was interviewed on today;s episode of NBC's Meet the Press. Host Chuck Todd pointed out a recent Massachusetts' newspaper editorial that called upon the supposed Native American to take a $99 DNA test sample.

But, the Senator refused to say whether she would take the test. No, it is not the price that deterred the wealthy Warren from taking the test, the Senator simply wants to retain her family's folk lore.

"My mother and daddy were born and raised in Oklahoma,” Warren said. “My daddy first saw my mother when they were both teenagers. He fell in love with this tall, quiet girl who played the piano. Head over heels. But his family was bitterly opposed to their relationship because she was part Native American. They eventually eloped.”

“Look, I do know. I know who I am. And never used it for anything. Never got any benefit from it anywhere," Warren said. "But what I did a couple of weeks ago is I went to talk to the leaders of the native tribes across the country."
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